Centrifugal machine



(No Model.)

4 Sheet s--Sheet 1.

W. H. TOLHURST.

OBNTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

N0. 322,762. Patented July 21, 1885.

WIT/V588 n NW N [L7 W7 ATTORNEY (No Model.)

' I 4 Sheets Sheet 2. W. H. 'TOLHURST. I

GENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

Patented July 21, 1885.

lA/l/E/VTOR 4% ATTORNEY N PETERS. Fhuto-lz'flwgxipher. Wahingtun. D. C.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3,

W. H. TOLHURST.

UENTRIFUGAL MACHINE;

N0. 322,762. Patented Jilly 21, 1885.

ATTORNE? N. PEIERS, Pholo-Lilhogmphur. Washingtom D. C.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets -sl xeet 4.

I W. H. 'TO'LHURST.

GENTRIPUGAL MACHINE. N0. 322,762.. Patented July 21, 1885.

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A T TOR/V5 V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM H. TOLHUB ST, OF TROY, NEW YORK.

CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,762, dated July 21,1885.

Application filed December 26, 1884. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. TOLHURST, a resident of the city of Troy,in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Centrifugal Machines; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention that will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same,reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several figures therein.

My invention relates to improvements in centrifugal machines.

The object of my invention is to provide means for reducing the strainand friction upon the bearings of a basketsupporting shaft inacentrifugal machine due to the unequal distribution of the load in thebasket.

My invention consists, first, in providing a fixed support for theshaft-supporting step, the upper surface of which is so formed thatwhenthe step is centrally located thereon it will occupy a horizontalposition, and any movement of the step changing its location upon saidsurface will change its angular position relative to the line ofdirection of the shaft; second, in providing a step for abasketsupporting shaft that is free to revolve by a rotary slidingmovement upon the surface of its supporting-base; third, in providing astep for a basket-supporting shaft that is adj ustable angularly tot-heline of direction of said shaft.

Figure l of the drawings is a plan view of my improved centrifugalmachine with part omitted to show pulley E. Fig. 2 is a plan view of thestep and supportingbase with the basket and supporting-shaft removed.Fig. 3 is a vertical central setion of the machine, taken at the brokenline at y in Fig. 1, showing the shaft vertical and the step centrallylocated upon its support. Fig. 4 is a similar section showing the shaftinclined to the limit of its oscillation and the step upon one side ofits support. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the step in different positionsupon its supporting-base.

A is the bed-plate of the machine, to which is bolted the stationarybasket-inclosing curb B, from which project upwardly three arms, 0,supporting at their upper ends the bearings of the upper end of shaft D,and connected therewith by a universal joint consisting of the ball F,in which the shaft rotates, and the socket J, in which the ball turns toany desired angle, the shaft being free to slide vertically through itsbearing in ball F, the bearings being located within the drivingpulleyE, fixed to the shaft. The lower end of the shaft rotates in a ball, cl,which is free to turn or tip in any direction inthe step a. The

step is supported by the bed-plate or base A, 6

and is free to travel about the concave surface I; of the base anywherewithin the raised an.- nulus g. In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown thecontact-surfaces of the base and step curved to the are of a circle, thecenter of the circle being located at j in Fig. 3. The position of thisare relative to an arc of a circle having the universal joint at theupper end of the shaft as a center is shown by the dotted lines '5 andh, respectively.

The operation of a centrifugal machine used as a hydro-extractor is asfollows: fhe wet goods to be dried are placed within the basket G, thewalls of which are pierced by numerous perforations, as shown by thedots in Fig. 3, and the basket is rotated at a high rate of speed. Thecentrifugal force expels the water from the goods out through theperforations into the curb, from which it flows by gravity throughsuitable apertures therein, as H, which are shown covered in Fig. 3.

In loading the basket with goods'to be thus dried they are seldom ornever evenly distributed therein, from which it follows that one sidewill be heavier than the others, and when the basket is rotated at ahigh rate of speed a Very great strain, friction, and wear will bethrown upon the bearings of the basket supporting shaft, if they aresecured rigidly to their supporting frame and upon the frame 5 itself.Many expedients have been heretofore resorted to for the purpose ofovercoming this difficulty. The bearings have been loosely confined bysprings,which soon broke or wore out without entirely relieving thebearings of -1oo the friction due to excessive vibration of the variousparts. A convex shaftsupporting step resting upon a concave-supportingbase has been employed, but the movements of the step were controlled bysprings in various ways, and necessarily so, for the reason that onlythose convex surfaces could be employed whose convexity or concavity wasmeasured by the arc of a circle the center of which was theuniversal-joint connecting the upper end of the shaft with itssupporting-frame, and the gyroscopical movement of the basket and shaftwould at once force the step from its support, the tendency of the shaftbeing to assume a horizontal position.

By connecting step a with its shaft D by means of the ball d, adapted toturn or tip in any direction in a corresponding socket in the step, auniversal joint is formed, which permits of a universal angularadjustment of the step a relative to the shaft D, and this universal adjustment,in connection with the freedom of the shaft to slideverticallyin its bearings, located at or near its end opposite the endsupported by the step, perm-its of the use of a supporting-base having aconvex surface, or walls with inclined surfaces ascending as they extendfrom the center outward, the incline being considerably steeper than theinclination of a concave surface formed upon the arc of a circle whosecenter is the univen sal-joint within the driving-pulley E. I am vthusable by means of gravity, without the use of restraining-springs, toovercome the gyroscopical or other force which tends to drive thesupporting-step from the center of its supporting-base. WVhen the shaftoscillates to one side of a vertical line, as from the position shown inFig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4, the step a is carried to one side of itssupportingbase, traveling up its inclined surface, thereby lifting thetraveling parts and the load of the basket, the upper end of the shaftsliding up through its bearings, and the step tipping relatively to theshaft, as shown in Fig. 4.

The position of the step is shown by the dotted circle in Fig. 2'. Ifthe parts are,for the sake of experiment, suddenly forced to theirextreme limit,to the position shown in Fig. 4, While the shaft andbasket are rapidly rotated to the right, or in the direction taken bythe hands of a watch, the shaft will slowly return to an approximatelyvertical position,the step a revolving by a rotary sliding motion to theleft around the center of its supporting-surface, carrying of course theend of the shaft with it, gradually approaching the center as itrevolves until the unequal distribution of the load is balanced,when therevolution continues in a circle which is constant fora given variationin the distribution of the load. The load would ordinarily be of sucheven distribution that the diameter of the circle described by thecenter of the revolving step would not exceed about one-half inch.

That we may understand and fully apprepartedmuch farther from thehorizontal position shown in Fig. 3, so that the side of the stepfarthest from the center of its support is much nearer the upper end ofthe shaft than is the opposite side of the step. It is also apparentthat the lower side of the step sustains a larger share of the weight ofthe supported parts, including the loaded basket. Now, as

the shaft and basket rotate and the heavier side of the basket reaches apoint in line with the shaft and the center of the supportingsurface(see Fig. 6) farthest from said center,

the pull in the direction of arrow No. 1 upon the shaft and step,due tothe centrifugal force of the extra weight pulling in the direction ofthe arrow,will tend to relieve the lower side of the step of its extrapressure and transfer it to the opposite and upper side of the step,

so that the weight or frictional pressurebetween the surfaces of thestep and its support will be about evenly distributed throughout thesurface of the step,and as it cannot travel farther in the direction ofthe pullingforce without traveling up the steep inc re and considerablyelevating the whole load, it remains stationary until the line ofdirection of the pulling-force changes. If we consider its effect aftertraveling a quarter-revolution,or rotation of the basket to arrow No. 2,we find it is without apparent result, as the rapidity of movement hasnot afforded sufficient time to retransfer the weight to the lower sideof the step and overcome the inertia of the step; but as thepulling-force passes on another quarter to arrow No. 3 there is restoredto the lower side of the step not only the weight it would support withthe parts at rest, but by reason of the pull almost the entire weight istransferred to the lower side,- so that the frictional contact of theupper or opposite side is very slight, and our pulling-force in passingon to the next quarter, arrow N o. 4, causes the step to slide by apartially rotary motion to a position approximating that shown by thebroken lines K, the lower side of the step acting in the nature of apivot, upon which the step has turned back, and by reason of itstendency to descend the inclined surface toward the center of thesupportingbase. The next rotation of the shaft and its load would act ina similar manner upon the step and cause it to assume apositionapproximating that shown by the broken line m, very many rotary turns ofthe shaft being required to cause the step to revolve once around thecenter of its supporting-base, and several revolutions being required tobring the step into its final orbit of revolution.

From the foregoing explanation it will be seen that no restraint orcontrol whatever, except the inclined supporting surfaces and gravity,is put upon the movements 0f the shaft-supporting step, which ispermitted to travel about by easy stages to accommodate itself to theunequal distribution of the load in the basket, which wholly preventsany binding friction upon the bearings, and reduces all vibrations uponthe moving or stationary parts to a minimum. Thus the angular adjustmentof the supporting-step to the line of direction of the shaft permits ofsuch a dis tribution of the weight upon the step as to cause the same torevolve by a rotary sliding movement until it finds the proper orbit ofrevolution to maintain the equilibrium of the pulling-force, which isconstantly changing in direction during a period of rotation of theshaft.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a centrifugal-machine, an oscillatory basket-shaft provided with asupporting-step free to travel upon a fixed supporting-surface, saidstep being angularly adjustable to the line of direction of said shaft,and said shaft being vertically adjustable to the conformation of saidsupporting-surface, substantially as described.

2. In a centrifugatmachine, a verticallyadjustable basket-supportingshaft connected 5 by a universal joint at or near its upper end with asupporting-frame, and adapted to rotate in a supporting-step which isfree to revolve bya sliding rotary movement about the surface of a fixedsupport, substantlally as described, in combination with said movablestep and fixed support, for the purposes speclfied.

3. In a centrifugal-machine having a vertically-adjustablebasket-supporting shaft con- 45 nected by a universal joint at or nearone end with a supporting-frame, and at ts other end with a movablesupportingstep in which it rotates, a step-supporting base provided withan upper concave surface adapted to support the step in a centralhorizontal position when the said shaft is vertical, and to change theangular position of the step relative to the shaft when the stepped endof the shaft 0sc1llates to one side of a vertical line, the angle formedbetween the step and shaft constantly increasing on one side anddiminishing on the opposite side as the step travels from the centralpart of the supporting-surface outward, substantially as described, andfor the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 23d day ofDecember, 1884.

VILLIAM H. TOLHURST.

\Vitnesses:

GEO. A. MosHER, IV. H. HOLLISTER, Jr.

